If you are the owner of a young puppy or an elderly dog who has bladder problems, you will be aware of how difficult it can be to stop them from peeing on your furniture. It can also be a problem with a territorial dog who is marking with urine on your wood furniture. It’s the smell that gets you.
In this guide, I will explain how you get dog urine smells out of wood furniture. You can also use these tips to get dog urine out of the wood under your carpet.
How do you remove dog urine from wood furniture?
Wood is extremely absorbent and will quickly stain when exposed to dog urine. Although these stains may not stand out at first (due in part to how dark they are), they can rapidly ruin wooden furniture and floors if not treated quickly.
What you will need
- Wood cleaner for urine smells and stains (View on Amazon)
- Sponge and cloths
- Possible hydrogen peroxide and water solution
You need to move fast if you want to get the dog urine smell and stains out of wooden furniture. Here’s how I do it.
1. Quickly mop urine up if you see it in time
If you’re lucky enough to catch your dog in the act or come across a fresh pee puddle, then you should grab a paper towel or a disposable cloth and mop up any pee that has not already sunk into the wood.
With a little bit of luck, you might be fortunate, and this could be enough to stop any chance of the wood furniture becoming stained with the dog urine.
Regardless, you still need to follow the next step to then get any dog urine out of your wood furniture.
2. Sponge down the area
Now grab a wet sponge and begin sponging the area where the urine was on the wood. Do one bit of sponging, then use a wet cloth to rub into the wood in a scrubbing motion. Alternate between the two.
You can then use a dry cloth to periodically blot the wet areas to bring the water back up and off the wood.
Once the area is dry, you can now move to the next step which will help you get the dog urine smell out of your wood furniture.
3. Get the smell out with an overnight solution
Don’t use a harsh cleaning agent, as these will often damage your wooden furniture or flooring. Instead, you can use a homemade solution – but even with that you need to be a little careful about how much you apply and for how long.
What I do is get a clean cloth and soak it in a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and water. I then lay that over the wood with the urine smell, and weigh it down with something, leaving it in place for 8 hours.
However, this is a risk, because hydrogen peroxide can discolor wooden flooring and furniture, making it appear lighter. Because of this, always try a small patch first.
The better solution is to use specially formulated product. Here’s one on Amazon I have used, and had great results with.
There are plenty of products on the market which do the same job, so you can shop around. Look for one like the bottle above (click on image to buy) that are specifically designed for wood and getting rid of dog urine smells or stains.
Just like you would with the homemade solution, apply the product, grab a dry cloth and place it over the stain. For the best results, weigh down the cloth with a large book or something equally heavy.
If the dog urine stain is in an area where it is difficult to place a cloth, such as a chair leg, you can try tying the cloth loosely with knots. After a couple of hours, the cloth might have soaked up any urine that was left in the wood and helped life smells out too.
You can change the cloth several times if needed.
4. Possible light sanding in serious cases of staining and smells
If the dog urine smell and stain is still noticeable in the wood, then aside from repeating the steps above, the last resort will be a light sanding of the affected area.
This should be done with extreme caution. With a careful hand, you should be able to observe how deep the urine has soaked into the wood.
Additionally, further sanding may remove the stain entirely, but there is a chance that the wood could be damaged in the process. Instead, we recommend hiring or talking to an expert in wooden furniture restoration, if it gets to this stage.
Handy Hint: Urine isn’t the only issue you will get with wood in the home, some dogs will graduate to chewing wood trims!
Dealing with dog urine on wooden furniture
Fortunately, unlike cat urine, dog urine stains and odors are reasonably easy to deal with. Not only do they lack the extreme smell associated with cat pee, but they are also easier to remove from wood and other surfaces.
There are also plenty of products on the market designed specifically to do this job, one of which I’ve linked to above and can personally recommend you try using.
But of course, getting dog urine out of wood furniture needn’t be something you should have to do, as there are ways you can prevent it in the first place.
As already established, the faster you can deal with urine on furniture, the easier it will be to entirely remove it.
If you own a dog who regularly pees on your wooden furniture or the floor, then you should be mindful that this could happen at any moment. Try to prevent the accident from occurring in the first place, either by taking your dog outside or by giving him a walk when he is starting to look bored or restless.
However, it is not always possible to keep an eye on your pup, especially if you are busy or your attention is elsewhere at the time.
Often, you may miss them taking a leak on your furniture, being unaware until you stumble across the stain later. Therefore, it can help to identify pieces of furniture that your dog seems to be particularly fond of peeing on, making sure to check on them regularly.
Sometimes, with extra vigilance, you might even catch your dog in the act. If this happens, you should make sure that you do not get angry or lash out at your dog.
Instead, you should attempt to stop them from carrying on peeing by gently rebuking them and leading them out into the yard.
Although it can be extremely frustrating to catch your dog peeing inside the house, it is always best to try and remain calm and deal with the situation without scaring them needlessly.
Stopping your dog peeing on wooden furniture
With practice, it can prove easy to curb a naughty dog’s behavior of peeing on furniture in the home. For example, one method you can try is teaching your dog to pee in a designated area outside.
To do this, take your pooch out on a leash, and walk them around a small piece of your land. Once your dog has peed, you should reward them with a treat.
After some time, your dog should begin to associate peeing in the yard with positive ramifications and will hopefully stop peeing on your furniture entirely.
Additionally, if your dog is scenting your furniture by peeing on it, then you should probably think about having them neutered or spayed.
Often this will completely eliminate the problematic scenting and will go a long way in helping your dog become less territorial – it’s not unheard of them to pee on clothes too.
In addition, dogs who have been fixed are said to live longer, have less chance of developing diseases, and are reported to act less aggressively. You can read more tips in this guide about dogs peeing near their food bowls which applies to furniture and wooden flooring too.
Lastly, peeing in the home can sometimes be a sign that your dog is not getting enough exercise. If you suspect this is the reason, try to take them for longer walks, or throw a ball for them to chase in the yard.
If you have trouble finding the time to exercise your dog (due to work, or other commitments), ask a friend, family member, or neighbor if they can take them out when you are busy.
Conclusion
It can be a nightmare trying to curb behaviors such as urine on your wooden floors, especially if your dog has trouble controlling its bladder. Sadly, these scenarios are pretty common and are the bane of many dog owners around the country, and even the world – you need only look online to see the extent of how widespread this problem is.
Unfortunately, wooden furniture and dogs do not always go together all that well.
Despite most urine smells disappearing quickly, particularly pungent smells can last for a long time, and can quickly take over a house if they are left untreated.
Furthermore, we can easily become accustomed to bad odors, rendering us unaware of how much our house reeks.
This, in turn, can lead to awkward situations, with friends and family being reluctant to visit our houses in the future.
So, I hope my short guide to getting dog urine out of wood furniture or from under the carpet on your wooden floors has helped.
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Image in header licensed via Storyblocks.com.